The King's Achievement eBook

Little by little, however, the discontent began to
smoulder once more, for the King’s pledges of
restoration were not fulfilled; and Cromwell, who
was now recognised to be the inspirer of all the evil
done against Religion, remained as high as ever in
the royal favour. Aske, who had been to the King
in person, and given him an account of all that had
taken place, now wrote to him that there was a danger
of a further rising if the delay continued, for there
were no signs yet of the promised free parliament
being called at York.

Then again disturbances had broken out.

“I was at Hull,” said the monk, “with
Sir Francis Bygod in January; but we did nothing,
and only lost our leader, and all the while Norfolk
was creeping up with his army. It was piteous
to think what might not have been done if we had not
trusted his Grace; but ’twas no good, and I was
back again in the dales here and there, hiding for
my life by April. Everywhere ’twas the
same; the monks were haled out again from their houses,
and men were hanged by the score. I cut down four
myself near Meux, and gave them Christian burial at
night. One was a monk, and hanged in his habit.
But the worst of all was at York.”

The man’s face twitched with emotion, and he
passed his hand over his mouth once or twice before
continuing.

“I did not dare to go into the court for fear
I should be known; but I stood outside in the crowd
and watched them go in. There was a fellow riding
with Norfolk—­a false knave of a man whom
we had all learnt to hate at Doncaster—­for
he was always jeering at us secretly and making mischief
when he could. I saw him with the duke before,
when we went into the Whitefriars for the pardon;
and he stood there behind with the look of a devil
on his face; and now here he was again—­”

“His name, sir?” put in Dom Adrian.

“Torridon, father, Torridon! He was a—­”

There was a sharp movement in the room, so that the
monk stopped and looked round him amazed. Chris
felt the blood ebb from his heart and din in his ears,
and he swayed a little as he leaned against the wall.
He saw Dom Anthony lean forward and whisper to the
stranger; and through the haze that was before his
eyes saw the other look at him sharply, with a fallen
jaw.

Then the monk rose and made a little stiff inclination
to Chris, deferential and courteous, but with a kind
of determined dignity in it too.

When Chris had recovered himself, the monk was deep
in his story, but Ralph had fallen out of it.

“You would not believe it,” he was saying,
“but on the very jury that was to try Master
Aske and Constable, there were empanelled their own
blood-relations; and that by the express intention
of Norfolk. John Aske was one of them, and some
others who had to wives the sons of my Lord Darcy
and Sir Robert Constable. You see how it would
be. If the prisoners were found guilty, men would
say that it must be so, for that their own kin had
condemned them; and if they were to be acquitted, then
these men themselves would be cast.”